Good Eats: Unwind! with homemade food with Texas flair

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press 

A little more than six months after its grand opening, Unwind! Texas Style Tasting Room & Café has only continued to grow as it offers diners a wide menu of bistro-style food with a Texas flair. 

The café has a lineup of appetizers like three sizes of meat and cheese plates, Unwind! Style quesadillas with brisket or buffalo chicken, caprese, freshly baked bread and dipping oil, along with “Dips Delish”—crostini served up with a selection of dips.

Entrees include a stuffed avocado, overflowing with a choice of brisket, shredded chicken, pulled pork, or chicken salad, served with one of Unwind!’s sides, either potato salad, mac ‘n cheese, coleslaw, pasta salad, or homemade pinto beans. Paninis and sliders round out the menu along with “halvzies”—two items to include one slider, half a panini, a cup of soup or a house salad, and a non-alcoholic beverage of choice.  Always on the menu are the restaurant’s homemade potato soup and lobster bisque. 

“Everything we make is homemade,” said Conrad Menard, who along with wife, Alicia, owns the café. There is a smoker onsite which Conrad uses to smoke all the meat. The café also has several salads on the menu, to include a signature salad of spring mix lettuce, apples, dried cranberries, assorted nuts, topped with feta cheese and toasted croutons, with a choice of dressing.

Unwind! also serves up complementary homemade kettle chips, a snack which Conrad said has been an unexpected hit with customers. 

For specials during the week, every Wednesday Unwind! Offers “hump day specials” to include $1 off all wineritas and $2 off all appetizers. 

Then on Friday night at Unwind!, it’s oysters, oysters everywhere, to include classic oysters on the half shell, smoked oysters, and Texas Rockefeller oysters seasoned with garlic, jalapenos, in a cheese sauce. On Saturdays, all sangrias are $1 off.

Conrad and Alicia also serve up entertainment for their guests, hosting a comedy and magic show on Thursday nights, karaoke on Fridays, and live musical entertainment on Saturday nights featuring local musicians. 

In addition to a wine list of wines from 18 Texas wineries, the Menards also have their own house wines, called Sassy, HardKore, and Soulmate, bottled at the Georgetown Winery. Sassy is a sweet white wine, HardKore is a cabernet sauvignon, and Soulmate is a sweet red. They also serve a selection of 11 craft beers and two siders.

The café space also provides room for private events, seating up to 54 in its overflow room. Conrad said they’ve hosted birthday parties, wedding receptions, class reunions and more. 

Unwind! Is located in the Frontier Hills Shopping Center at 175 W. Business 190 and is open Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon until 5 p.m. The café is closed every Monday and Tuesday, but the Menards hold a monthly painting night with wine and beer, and they can also schedule private parties on those days. The Menards do ask for parties of eight or more, that guests make a reservation.